* Follow updates from Kingsmead Cricket Ground * Start time in Durban is 9.30am local/6.30pm AEDT * Sign up for The Spin newsletter | Get in touch via email Hello and welcome to live coverage of the first day of the first Test between South Africa and Australia in Durban. This is a heavyweight clash between the top two teams in the current World Test Championship standings, and the two teams that met in the final of the last cycle little more than 15 months ago. The Proteas defeated the defending champions Australia in that WTC decider at Lord’s last year to claim a rare piece of silverware rid themselves of a choker’s tag. But the buildup to this series has inevitably looked much further back. More than eight years have passed since Cameron Bancroft reached into his pocket at Newlands, pulled out a piece of sandpaper and exposed the fractures in Australian cricket that had been papered over across decades. That moment and the cover-up that followed led to the young opener and his more experienced batting partner David Warner, along with captain Steve Smith, being banned from playing cricket for as much as 12 months, while the culture reckoning that swept over the national team lasted much longer. Continue reading...
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